Friday, October 18, 2013

The office of the Supreme Religious Authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, assured once more his rejection to hang his photos on walls of public areas and governmental institutions.

Ayatollah Sistani's office reported in a statement directed to the Head of Najaf Provincial Council received by Iraq News Agency''We have noticed in few cases that the photos of the Supreme Religious Authority, Ali al-Sistani, are hanged on walls of some governmental institutions, such as your offices, and public areas, thus we would like to assure our pervious appeals not to hang the photos on walls of public areas.''

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The increasing number of dropouts from schools and colleges is not a local problem but it is prevalent globally.This was said by Prof Ahmad Ali of BBD during a seminar on ‘Responsibility of parents in children’s education and reasons for dropouts in higher education’ organised by Anjuman Wazifa-e-Sadaat at Imambada Gufraanmaab. Prof Ahmad said that in Muslims, the dropout rate was around 25 per cent which was a grave situation. “In such a case, we need to find out a solution before it is too late. In 2009, Central Government came up with Right to Education (RTE) which was implemented in most of the states by 2011. This law provides for free education to children in the age group of 6-14 years,” he said.Citing poverty as the reason for increasing number of dropouts, he said there were a number of cases where schoolgoing children had to leave school after class IV to VI.“These children start working in shops and workshops to help their family financially.There are some welfare organisations which compensate the families so that children can attend school and get education,” he said.Member of Anjuman Maulana Syed Zahid Husain said: “We have been working for the welfare of poor students by providing small aid to them for acquiring education.” Anjum Hasnain, Nasir Husain, Ainul Raza, Muzammil Abbas and others were present on the occasion.While addressing the gathering,senior auditor in Basic Education department Asghar Mahdi said that people should be encouraged to acquire education.“Government has been providing help but still people lag behind due to lack of awareness. People, especially those belonging to the Muslim community,should focus on the education of their children and engage them in the area of their interest,” he said.“As per recent reports from Ministry of HRD, the dropout rate in the country was 26 lakh in which 10 lakh was in the state. We all should fix targets of education so that children can pursue the same subject in higher education too,” he added.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

The issue of allowing women to drive cars in the Kingdom has become a vortex wherein the proponents of the move have come to be accused as morally corrupt, a leading female Shoura Council member has said.Talking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette here on Friday, Dr. Thoraya Obaid said she was astonished at the way false accusations are being leveled against anyone who talks about granting women permission to drive.“Is it the only crucial issue facing the government and Saudi society. Is it the issue which involves international security that need to be under continuous focus of the world,” she wondered. This is basically a social issue as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has said, she added.“Driving is as important to men as it is for women. In fact, I was trained as a driver by my late brother Ibrahim even before I graduated. This does not mean that I became independent of my family,” she said. Full Story